


Forever

by 18lzytwner



Series: Law & Order SVU Second Series [4]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2019-07-07 03:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 19,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15900216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: The team narrows in on a rapist and murderer while Rollins fights for her life and the life of her baby. Will they find the murderer before more innocent women die? Can Rollins and the baby pull through? E/O, of course.





	1. Chapter 1

"So someone wanted to see mommy at work and I said that we couldn't go but she didn't want to hear it," Elliot smirked as he pushed the double stroller into the Lieutenant's office. Little six month old Grace sat in front, cute as a button, and three year old Noah sat in the back, entertained by his book.

"If this keeps happening on your lunch breaks we'll never get anything done," Olivia laughed and stood up from behind her desk. She moved over toward her husband and gave him a quick hug and a kiss before scooping up Grace.

"Hello beautiful, were you missing mommy?" She wanted to know. Despite the fact that she was only six months old, Grace nodded as if she'd fully understood the question.

"I'll take that as a yes. So how hard was it to get you away from Lucy?" Again little Grace's eyes lit up and this time she gurgled.

"I told Lucy to take a break and she promised that she'd be back before I got these little goobers home," Elliot smiled.

"Goobers?" Noah spoke up.

"You're the biggest goober and she's the little goober," his adoptive daddy teased and Noah laughed.

"I still got it," Elliot chuckled.

"Oh you got something all right," it was Fin in the doorway. They all turned their focus around to him and Elliot gave him a look while Olivia laughed.

"You got something?" She asked.

"Yeah, we caught a case. Melinda is already on scene. You want me and Carisi to run it down?" Fin wanted to know.

"I thought Carisi was taking Amanda to her last doctor's appointment before she goes on maternity leave," Olivia looked confused. Fin was about to answer when they heard a shout from the bullpen.

"I need some help in here!" It was Carisi and he sounded really concerned. Olivia quickly set Grace back into the stroller and then followed Fin and Elliot out of the office.

"What happened?" Fin asked when he saw the blonde on the floor, completely passed out.

"She said she wasn't feeling good and was going to head to the ladies room and then she just collapsed," Carisi explained while checking her pulse.

"A bus is on its way," Briscoe announced. Olivia looked over to him and nodded.

"How's her pulse?" Elliot asked.

"Fine," Carisi shook his head, not sure what had happened to his partner.

"It's probably her blood pressure," Olivia said, speaking from experience. The elevator dinged and out rushed the paramedics.

"Carisi go with her to the hospital. I don't want her alone when she comes to. Elliot take the kids home. Fin, you Briscoe, and I will be heading to the crime scene," Olivia ordered as the paramedics loaded the unconscious Rollins onto the gurney and headed back toward the elevator. Instructions given and their downed colleague in the good hands of the FDNY, the group dispersed, all knowing no matter how much they wanted to be with their downed colleague, they had to stay focused.

Not long after, Fin, Briscoe, and Olivia were standing at the crime scene, surveying the mess of the apartment that had been left in the wake of the attack. Fin surveyed the rooms while Briscoe coordinated with forensics.

"What have we got Melinda?" Olivia asked the medical examiner. The body of a young woman in her twenties lay on the bed, sheets and blankets twisted with her body; blood soaked the bedding and the bed, and was splashed on the walls.

"What have you got? I heard the ten-thirteen go out over the radio," Melinda wanted to know.

"Rollins collapsed in the squad room. Carisi is with her and he promised to update us as soon as he knew something," the Lieutenant explained.

"I hope she and the baby will be ok," Melinda said.

"I hope so too. She's really excited and we've been trying to help as much as we can but we aren't family," Olivia shook her head, concerned that maybe the blonde hadn't been telling them everything.

"Yes you are. Her family hasn't been any help," the medical examiner shook her head. Olivia nodded and changed the subject,

"What should I be telling this poor girl's family?"

"She was assaulted and beaten within an inch of her life. I don't know what would bring someone to do this to the poor girl," Melinda heaved a sigh.

"I don't know either but we'll find out," Olivia heaved a sigh of her own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, high T-rating here folks. It's mostly mentioning stuff but I like to be cautious.

"All right so what have we got?" Elliot asked as the group entered the bullpen after their visit to the crime scene.

"Andrea Jacobs, age twenty-five. Beaten, raped, and then murdered," Olivia shook her head.

"Forensics is uploading the photos as we speak and Melinda said she'd hopefully have some preliminary items for us by tomorrow morning," Fin explained. Elliot nodded and went to his computer. Sure enough the forensics crew had uploaded some of the images and Elliot pulled them up on the wall mounted television.

"Looks like someone has anger issues," Elliot narrowed his eyes studying the images.

"Any word from Carisi?" Briscoe asked.

"Rollins is awake and the doctors are running tests so not much more than we knew a few hours ago," Elliot shook his head as he looked away from the screen.

"No signs of forced entry so she either knew her attacker or he's good at picking locks," Fin said, bringing them all back around to the case.

"Have her folks been notified?" Elliot wanted to know.

"I'm working on that right now. They live in Virginia and are on the next flight out," Olivia let them know.

"Anybody look at her devices?" Her husband wondered.

"Her phone was smashed and her laptop was missing," Fin said.

"Ok, so our guy gets into the apartment, does what he intends to do, and then steals her electronics or smashes them? The robbery seems odd," Briscoe pointed out.

"I agree considering the fact that we found a wireless printer. It wasn't like taking the laptop made it look like she didn't have a computer," Olivia nodded.

"Right. Do we know what she did for a living?" Elliot asked.

"Pay stubs show her working as a waitress but she had to be making money doing something else too because there is now way she managed to keep that apartment on tips," Fin said. Olivia's phone buzzed and she quickly picked it up. Moving to her office to take the call, the remaining detectives started flipping through the pictures to see if maybe they missed something.

"I leave you guys for one day and you manage to catch a case?" Dodds asked as he walked into the bullpen.

"Yeah," was all Fin said.

"Who was on the phone?" Elliot asked as Olivia left her office.

"It was Carisi. They're keeping Rollins at the hospital until they can narrow down what happened. The doctors don't feel comfortable releasing her before the test results come in. I told him to stay put. We've got enough people to work this case," she told them.

"What happened to Rollins?" Dodds asked, since he'd been out of the loop.

"I'll fill you in. Meantime, Stabler, Briscoe, head out to the restaurant where Andrea worked. Fin, see if you can't get forensics a nudge. I don't want this guy out on the city if this isn't a onetime thing. Then we'll have to call it a night," the Lieutenant gave her orders and the detectives scattered.

"So how'd the DNA conference go?" Olivia asked her new Sergeant.

"Interesting but most of the information seems like techniques we won't get to use right away. Barba passes on his regards," Dodds explained. The Lieutenant nodded and quickly explained what had happened earlier in the day.

"Should we call in some people to handle the case load?" He asked.

"Until we know what's going on, I don't think so. Rollins was going out on maternity leave soon anyway and Carisi would be handling anything that pops up with her cases in the meantime. I'll need you to help with both of them out while Briscoe, Elliot, and Fin handle the Andrea Jacobs case," Olivia told him.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll lend help if they need it with this one too," Dodds said.

"Good," Olivia nodded. Her phone rang again and she quickly picked it up.

"Stabler," she said.

"I'm still expecting you to say Benson," Melinda said from the other end.

"It's not an easy habit to break," Olivia chuckled.

"I might have something that you guys can work with a little sooner than I thought," the medical examiner told her.

"Oh?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I X-rayed the body and there is something metal inside your victim. The first item looks like a plate that was used to keep her left leg together below the knee. The second item that is inside your victim's rectum, is something that you most definitely do not normally see," Melinda said and Olivia swallowed hard.

"All right, I'll send Fin and Elliot over in the morning. Thanks for letting us know," with that she hung up, feeling sickened at the thought of what the medical examiner had just mentioned. She'd thought she'd seen it all but apparently not.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another strong T rating for this chapter. Just so you know...

The next morning Elliot met Fin at the medical examiners after dropping Olivia off at the precinct. Briscoe had the notes from the restaurant where Andrea had worked and would fill in Dodds. Carisi called Olivia late that evening to tell her that the doctors said the results weren't going to be in for a couple of days and another blood pressure spike had caused them to insist that Rollins stay for the next few days. The Lieutenant had ordered him to go home, sleep, and then get back there in the morning. He'd agreed and said he'd keep the team in the loop.

"What have you got Melinda?" Fin asked as he and Elliot entered the room. The medical examiner looked up from a different body she was working on and gave them a slight smile.

"Olivia tell you what I told her last night?" She asked.

"Sounds like the X-rays were a lot of fun," Elliot said sarcastically.

"Interesting for sure. The plate I found was put in after a nasty car accident a few years back. Nothing that will lead us to our perp, though I wondered if anyone mentioned if she walked with a limp," Melinda started as they walked over to the body they were looking for on a different table.

"No one that Ken and I talked to last night said anything. That bad huh?" Elliot wondered.

"Well it would have been noticeable as the plate was keeping the two bones her lower leg, the tibia and the fibula, together and it was just below her knee. It would not have affected the knee movement too much but it would have been painful when the weather shifted or if she spent long hours on her feet," she explained.

"Ouch. Must have been one heck a of wreck. I'll look into accident reports when we get back. See if maybe what happened caused someone to serve some time," Fin noted.

"Good idea because the next item is what threw me for a loop," Melinda went over to the table where she kept her tools and picked up an evidence bag.

"Is that what I think it is?" Elliot asked.

"That would be a Maglite ®. It's about six and a half inches in length. The shaft of the flashlight was inside your victim's rectum. I have no idea why it was in there but there is no way that she was alive when your sicko put it in there. The inside of the rectum doesn't show any bleeding. Though I would imagine since it's a little bigger than an inch in diameter it wasn't easy to get in there. Of course the rest of the assault makes little sense as well," the medical examiner told them.

"Back it up for us Doc," Fin said.

"There were no fluids that I could find meaning it was either someone who couldn't do the acts themselves because of some sort of physical issue or your killer was a woman," Melinda started.

"Doc, she was beaten to within an inch of her life how could a woman do that? Andrea was almost six feet tall and she certainly wouldn't have just let the person do that to her," Elliot pointed out. Melinda held up her hand and they moved to the victim's head.

"A blow with the flashlight would have knocked her out. Blows to the ribs would have incapacitated her. She had four broken ribs and was struck with something that was longer than the flashlight. The bruising that occurs on the rest of her body seems to be from the flashlight. This person was trying to leave as little trace as they could. I swabbed the flashlight to see about epithelials but I won't hold my breath on that one. The flashlight was covered in all sorts of bodily fluids due to the location it was found. However, I believe it to be the item that your victim was raped with, due to the internal damage. Whoever did this, didn't want to get caught and was incredibly careful," she finished.

"I've seen some messed up stuff but this case…" Fin shook his head.

"Definitely gives us a whole new meaning of sick. What was the final cause of death?" Elliot wanted to know.

"She bled out. The damage to her uterus and the nasty stab wound in her neck made sure she wasn't getting out of the apartment alive," Melinda explained.

"The perp brought three weapons?" Fin was sure that was definitely overkill.

"Forensics noticed a knife missing from the knife block in the kitchen. I think the original intention wasn't to stab her but perhaps she was taking too long to die from her other wounds. Do me a favor and take this down to forensics. I'm sure they want to see you two as well," the medical examiner said.

"Can't wait," Elliot swallowed.


	4. Chapter 4

Forensics had mostly been a bust. They had taken fingerprints at the scene but so far all of them were unidentified which only told them no one with a record had been by for a visit. The knife set was fairly common and could be picked up at the local Target or Sears, so finding it in someone's apartment wouldn't exactly seal the deal, especially if the crook ran it through the dishwasher. There was some mud by the doorway that they were trying to identify because none of the shoes inside the apartment had mud on them but again they would need to produce a suspect to compare their shoes to. Fin asked if they had found any hair to which the tech replied that so far they had only found the victims to which the seasoned detective replied "so our suspect is bald or a swimmer." Elliot shook his head knowing that so far it would not narrow anything down. The techs promised to work the evidence that they just received and were hoping it would produce something in the meantime.

"You guys got anything?" Dodds asked as they walked back into the bull pen. Elliot quickly filled him in while Fin took to his computer to research the accident that made Andrea Jacobs have a plate in her leg.

"So we have a real sicko that likes to cover his tracks, great," Dodds huffed.

"Any luck with similar cases?" Elliot asked.

"Briscoe has been on it all morning. So far nothing inside NYPD records. He's running the federal database too," the Sergeant explained.

"Are we sure this guy or gal has done this more than once? I mean it seems kind of personal doesn't it?" Briscoe spoke up from his desk.

"I know what you mean but you don't get the precision with a first time killer. They leave prints or DNA or a trail of phone calls or e-mails. Right now we've got a smashed phone we're waiting for the phone records for but with the laptop missing, we don't have any idea about e-mails," Elliot noted.

"What if that's why our perp took the laptop? I mean here we are thinking burglary and maybe instead it's a forensic countermeasure?" Dodds wondered.

"Logical point though if its web-based e-mail, you don't need the laptop. I'm getting her internet provider's e-mail account so TARU can run through it," Briscoe said.

"Good call so maybe it was the files on it? I mean Fin noticed that there was no way she was making rent with only being a waitress," the Sergeant reminded them.

"Well the laptop is going to have to remain a mystery," Fin spoke up.

"Why? What'd you find?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Andrea Jacobs' family sued the driver of the vehicle that hit her. The court awarded her five million in damages. Every month she gets a check for ten thousand dollars," the former Narcotics detective explained.

"Why is she working then and why didn't she move to a nicer apartment building?" Briscoe asked.

"She did move. According to her landlord she'd only been in her apartment for a little over a year. He said that she had to move from her old apartment because it was on the sixth floor and the elevator was faulty. Anyway, a good chunk of the money went to her medical bills, which she was still making payments on. Her rent is a thousand dollars and the medical bills take another eight thousand, so that only leaves a thousand for food, internet, phone, clothes, and electricity for the month," Fin shook his head.

"Why didn't she get the five million up front?" Elliot was curious.

"Seems that the vehicle that hit her was a garbage truck. Driver was drunk in the middle of his shift. Ordinarily the city would pay since it was a city worker but because he committed a felony while on the job, he was no longer eligible to be covered by their insurance. The supplemental insurance they use for civilian workers kicked in and it only allows ten thousand a month," he told them.

"I guess I'm surprised that they covered it at all and didn't make the workers individual insurance cover it," Dodds commented.

"I'm not all up on that and it doesn't say it in the file. Although it seems that our worker didn't have a spotless record down at the Sanitation Department so maybe the lawyers thought they'd be better off just paying," Fin shrugged.

"Well I think he's our first stop then. Who is this guy?" Elliot asked.

"His name is Raphael Ruiz. He didn't do it though. After they fired him and took away his pension, he went to jail. He was convicted of aggravated DWI and since he'd already had a DWI under his belt, the judge gave him two years with his license revoked for eighteen months after he gets out. He still has about seven months left on his sentence and he left a three thousand dollar fine for his wife to pay," Tutuola said.

"Why don't you and Briscoe find the wife and talk to her? Elliot and I can handle the phone records when they come in and we'll keep digging through her personal life in case the car accident angle doesn't pan out," Dodds suggested.

"On it," Fin nodded and he stood from his desk before heading for the door, Briscoe right behind.

"Where's Liv?" Elliot asked, noticing her office door was shut.

"She's in there with Andrea's parents," Dodds swallowed hard. Elliot grimaced. That had to be one of the worst parts of the job. Hopefully, she didn't have to give them all the details of their daughter's brutal murder.


	5. Chapter 5

Fin and Briscoe pulled up to the address for Raphael Ruiz's wife, Bonita. Fin looked at Briscoe, the young detective had been quiet for the trip which was not unusual as Ken was often a quiet man; what was unusual was the look on his face.

"Whatcha thinkin' Kenny?" Fin asked.

"You really think Melinda was right? Could a woman do this? I mean, why?" Briscoe shook his head.

"Well there is definitely more going on than we know. Personally, whoever did this has done something like this before. Little to no forensic evidence? Come on now," Fin told him.

"Yeah and the precedence isn't there for a lady but why else use a flashlight to do what they did?" Ken gave him a look.

"Not the weirdest item we've seen being used," Fin pointed out. Briscoe grimaced and unfortunately it was true.

"Let's see if this woman is our perp," the elder detective said before unbuckling his safety belt. Ken nodded and did the same. The two exited the car and headed up the front steps of the building before ringing the buzzer on door.

"Hola. Quién es?" A woman's voice came back.

"It's Detective Tutuola from the NYPD. Habla usted Inglés?" He asked.

"Si. Yes. Please come in," she replied and the sound of the door buzzer let them know that the front door was open. They went in and climbed up the steps to the second floor apartment. Knocking on the door, Fin could hear the multiple locks on the door being unlocked and he gave Briscoe a look. The younger man gave him a questioning look back.

"Can I help you?" The woman at the door asked them, half hiding behind the door. She was a small woman with a lean frame. Her dark brown hair was messy, as if she'd just pulled it back quickly.

"We need to ask you some questions about the woman who your husband hurt in his accident," Briscoe said. Bonita let them in and Fin immediately ruled her out as a suspect. Her hair was messy and she hid behind the door because her right arm was in a cast. There was no way she could have swung a baseball bat or gotten the victim into the bedroom.

"What happened to your arm?" Fin asked, knowing her husband was still in jail.

"I'm very clumsy. I slipped on the wet sidewalk," her eyes went to the shoes on the floor. Briscoe picked them up, noticing that there was basically no tread.

"And all the locks on your door?" Briscoe asked.

"I served my lousy good for nothing husband with divorce papers. He may still have seven months left on his sentence but I'm done with his drunk ass," Bonita gritted her teeth.

"Well the woman he injured in the accident, Andrea Jacobs, was found murdered yesterday. Now either she is the unluckiest woman in the world or she had a little help to getting that way. Where were you yesterday?" Fin wanted to know.

"Working. That three thousand dollar fine has had me pulling doubles at the diner," Bonita shook her head, obviously frustrated.

"Which diner?" Briscoe asked.

"The one down the block. You can ask my boss if you want. What happened to that poor girl? It's bad enough my piece of crap husband hurt messed up her leg, how'd she end up murdered?" Bonita seemed genuinely concerned for the poor girl. The feeling was almost as strong as the detestation she had for her soon to be former husband.

"We're trying to find out. Did you have much contact with Andrea after the accident?" Fin inquired.

"I haven't. She actually apologized to me for putting me through all of this. I told her that it wasn't her fault. It was my stupid husband. She was very sweet," Bonita frowned at the thought that the poor girl was dead.

"All right well we'll be in touch if we need anything else. Thanks for your time," Briscoe smiled slightly and they headed back out of the apartment.

"I think we're fresh out of suspects," Ken said. "Let's hope that Dodds and Elliot had better luck with the phone records and her personal life," Fin agreed as he fired up the car. They headed back to station, basically no further along than they had been.

"Penny for your thoughts?" The person at the door of the Lieutenant's office.

"Oh I think it'll take more than a penny," Olivia heaved a sigh from the seat behind her desk.

"I can imagine," Elliot nodded and moved into the office so he could get as close to his wife as possible per NYPD regulations.

"They had no idea why their daughter was murdered although they freely admitted they weren't as close as they would have liked to be. I promised to keep them in the loop and gave them a card for victim's services but it just doesn't seem like enough. We need to catch whoever this is," she said. Elliot put his hand on top if hers, wishing he could pull her into his arms but he knew he couldn't with Dodds in the other room.

"I might have something!" The aforementioned Sergeant announced as he approached the doorway.


	6. Chapter 6

"What is it Dodds?" Olivia asked as she stood from her chair and moved from behind her desk. Elliot followed her out of the office and the two of them met the Sergeant back at his desk where he'd retreated after his announcement.

"The phone records for Andrea Jacobs show that despite her busy schedule she was texting and talking to one person an awful lot. The phone company pulled her pics from their cloud app and some of these pictures and texts are…" Dodds was not usually one for mincing words but he handed one of the printouts to Olivia and she read them.

"Her face doesn't often turn that color," Elliot commented as his wife's face turned red.

"Pretty racy stuff for texting. Takes sexting to a whole new level," Olivia admitted handing the paperwork to Elliot who took the paper confused what all the hubbub was about.

"We struck out with Bonita Ruiz. She's divorcing her husband, she's been pulling doubles at the diner where she works, and she broke her arm about two weeks ago," Fin announced as he and Briscoe entered the bullpen.

"I think we have a new suspect anyway," Elliot said, handing him what he'd just read.

"Good lord," Ken gulped as he looked over Fin's shoulder.

"I know we've seen just about everything but sending pics of your lady business like that is definitely a new one. Seems Andrea wasn't as shy as she seemed," Fin shook his head. While none of those in the room were prudish, given the careers they had chosen and the fact that they had seen plenty of body parts at crime scenes and at home, none of them could see why one would need to do go that far with their romantic relationships.

"There is a reason they call it bumping uglies," Dodds commented.

"Yes well, do we know who that number belonged to?" Olivia tried to refocus the conversation.

"The phone number was stored as "Suzy" so I'm guessing that still leaves us a woman as a suspect," the Sergeant told her.

"We ran across a Suzy at the diner where Andrea worked," Elliot said.

"Funny she didn't mention her relationship with Andrea," Fin raised an eyebrow.

"Funny indeed. Elliot, you and Dodds go find Suzy. Briscoe and Fin, keeping pouring through the phone records. See if there were any more contacts that Andrea got friendly with. I'm heading to the hospital to check on Rollins," Olivia told them. Quickly, the group split up, heading off to do the tasks they needed to.

"Lieutenant, you didn't have to come by," Rollins said as Olivia entered the room.

"Thought I would check up on you and give Carisi a break," the Lieutenant smiled.

"Appreciate the offer Lieutenant but I think I'm good," he said.

"I need you to lean on TARU with our victim's e-mail account. We have a lead after her phone company handed over her records but I have a sneaking suspicion that her e-mails will be just as interesting as her texting," Olivia told him.

"Yes ma'am. I'll swing by later Rollins," Carisi promised.

"I appreciate that but you don't have to," she said. He smirked and then left the room. The Lieutenant then turned back to her younger detective.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Like I want to get out of here. The baby isn't due for another month and all they keep doing is poking me with needles," Rollins heaved a sigh.

"Well the baby needs you healthy and we need you healthy so its best you stay put. Is there anyone you want me to call?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Who? My crazy sister, who is still in jail, or my mother who believes I persecuted her? I have enough crazy in my life, thank you very much," the blonde shook her head.

"Who's taking care of Frannie?" The Lieutenant asked, referring to the four-legged friend who lived with the blonde. She didn't want to push about the baby's father, especially since Rollins hadn't offered the name up previously; only telling her it wasn't Nick's. Needless to say, Olivia worried about her detective's active after work life.

"My neighbor and Carisi checked up on her last night. He said she was happy to see him but bummed out when I wasn't behind him," Rollins heaved another sigh.

"Well I'm going to see what your doctor has to say about your test results. You need anything?" The Lieutenant asked.

"I think I'm good. Thanks," Rollins smiled as Olivia stood up and left the room.


	7. Chapter 7

"So Suzy, you weren't exactly honest with me earlier," Elliot said to the waitress. He and Dodds had arrived at the diner to find it busy but not overly so. They plunked themselves down at the bar.

"What do you mean?" The five foot six, redhead, asked as she took food to one of her tables. She was in her mid-twenties and thin, probably from all that running around at the diner.

"We got those messages off of Andrea's phone despite it being trashed," Dodds spoke up. This caused Suzy to freeze in her tracks. She shook her head and quickly finished with the customer before heading back toward the counter.

"Sal! I'm taking five!" Suzy shouted back to someone in the kitchen. Sal responded in sounded like Greek and the words seemed to not be so pleasant. Suzy jerked her head to the back door and the two detectives quickly followed her outside.

"What do those private messages have to do with her death?" Suzy asked.

"Maybe nothing and maybe everything. Why did you lie to me and Detective Briscoe earlier?" Elliot asked his own question.

"Andrea and I were in a relationship. The whole world didn't need to know. Why do you think she wasn't close to her parents? Did you know that they didn't even come up here when she got in her accident? I was the one who stayed by her side. I was the one who was making the medical decisions," Suzy was getting very upset.

"We're sorry about Andrea but the only way you might get some closure is if you help us catch her killer. Why would someone beat her like that and take her laptop?" Dodds wanted to know.

"Andrea was doing some digging on the city's sanitation workers after her accident. Shortly after her lawyer found out that the guy who hit her had the record he had, she wondered if she was the only one this had happened to. Turns out she wasn't. Andrea kept digging through the public records and even had a contact inside the Sanitation Department who was helping her," Suzy explained.

"Really? Do you know the name of the person who was helping her? Was she getting any threats?" Elliot asked.

"It was all on her laptop. As far as threats, we got some repeated hang up calls in the middle of the night but that was it," the waitress heaved a sigh.

"Look if you think of anything else or if you don't feel safe for any reason, you call us or head to your nearest precinct ok?" Elliot gave her his card. Dodds quickly gave her his too. She nodded and quickly headed back inside the diner to resume her shift.

"Somebody dirty in the Sanitation Department?" Dodds raised an eyebrow.

"Could be. Could be she stumbled onto something that was a lot worse than the Sanitation Department. Some of the independent contractors have been known to work for the Mob," Elliot said.

"Mob would want to make an example out of her. The violence is characteristic of them but it isn't public or splashy," Dodds pointed out.

"True. Doesn't mean she didn't piss somebody off though," the older detective mused.

"I think it's time we lean on TARU," the Sergeant suggested.

"Liv said she would have Carisi do that so why don't we give him a hand?" Elliot smirked.

"Sounds like fun," Dodds couldn't help but smirk himself. The two headed for the car and quickly back down toward the precinct.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Benson had gotten the doctor to come into Rollins' room and explain what they thought was going on. The blonde cringed at the thought that it could be a myriad of problems and that's why the doctors had originally been reluctant to start flooding her head with thoughts that at this point, they just couldn't prove. However, the doctor did say that the baby had shifted position and if the little one didn't move back into a good position for labor they would have to go in via C-Section. This new position had the baby sitting on Rollins' spine which would explain her back pain and some of the blood flow issues. The doctor promised that they should have some of the tests back the next day and with any luck, the situation wouldn't be as bad as it seemed. Both NYPD members thanked him for his time but after he left, the room fell silent for a few minutes.

"You're going to be fine," Olivia reassured her detective.

"I know. I know. I just…" Rollins didn't finish her statement as her heart rate suddenly skyrocketed and she passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

"That was the worst blood pressure spike we've seen yet. I don't like what your body is doing, especially since we can't seem to find the cause. The best course of action would be to perform the C-section so that the baby isn't in danger. I know it's a little early but the baby should be fine. I worry that these spikes could be doing more harm than good to the baby's health," the doctor, Julie Simmons, explained once they had gotten Rollins stabilized again.

"But these spikes are coming at random times. What if I have one while you're delivering the baby?" Rollins wanted to know. She was exhausted and felt like she could sleep for a week.

"It is risky but in the end it could be the baby causing the problems. It's not uncommon to have blood pressure issues and back pain but the degree to which you are having them suggests that the baby is in fact the cause, especially given the location that the little one has moved into," the doctor told her.

"When would you do the procedure?" Rollins asked.

"After you've had some time to rest. Right now would be too dangerous for both you and the baby. We'll get that ultrasound and if that doesn't help us then we'll have to do an MRI," Simmons said. Rollins nodded and Olivia grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She couldn't imagine going through this alone. She had had Elliot there and he knew what was going on so she had felt at ease. Right now, all she could do was hope that she was helping Rollins through everything.

"The nurses will be in in a few minutes," the doctor smiled and then headed out of the room. Olivia turned to her hard as nails detective to see her on the verge of tears.

"I'm scared," the blonde admitted.

"I know. You're one of the strongest people I know and I know that the baby is to, if he or she takes after their momma. You get some rest, ok?" Olivia tried to reassure her and handed her the box of tissues from the end table next to the bed.

On the other side of town, Elliot, Dodds, and Carisi were trying to get answers from the TARU tech who had been working with Andrea's internet provider to get into her e-mail account. Elliot and Dodds had filled Carisi in where they stood and the younger detective gave them what he knew about Rollins' condition after they last spoke. He had no idea what the blonde had just found out but that didn't seem to matter as Elliot could tell that he was worried for his partner. To the elder detective, it seemed like it was almost the same concern he'd held for Olivia all those years before they got together.

"Ok, I'm in but these e-mails look pretty innocuous," the tech named Bernie Zang spoke up.

"She must have another e-mail address," Dodds shook his head. Zang only nodded and went into the settings of the e-mail account.

"The Sergeant hit the nail on the head. Seems your victim had it set up so that the e-mails would go to a secondary account. Without her password, I'm going to have to go to that provider and see about gaining access. It might take a subpoena," Bernie explained.

"More time wasted. Meanwhile, whoever did this is getting away," Carisi heaved a sigh.

"It might be time to talk to Andrea's lawyer. He might have some insight into which direction she was heading with her research," Elliot spoke up.

"I'll take Carisi and we'll go find out. Why don't you see where Fin and Briscoe are and check in with the Lieutenant?" Dodds suggested.

"On it," Elliot nodded. Quickly they dispersed and Elliot headed for the bullpen. A quick trip to see Fin and Ken and then he hoped that Olivia would have some good news about Rollins. Still he wondered why he hadn't heard from his wife. She normally would have called to give someone an update. Whatever was going on, he knew that it couldn't be good.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ordinarily I don't discuss my clients with the police but I have to admit you've intrigued me. What can I do without breaking confidentiality?" Lawyer Robert Stevenson asked, offering Dodds and Carisi a seat in his office. The man had done well for himself considering the beautifully stained, hardwood desk, and plush leather chair. He seemed like an expensive lawyer for Andrea Jacobs to have hired given her salary before the accident.

"We're afraid that confidentiality doesn't have much to do with it anymore counselor. Andrea Jacobs was murdered the other day," Carisi told him.

"She was the lady on the news?" Stevenson couldn't believe it.

"We're afraid so. Now we heard that Andrea was doing some digging on the city's sanitation workers and that she might have had a contact inside the Sanitation Department. What can you tell us about it?" Dodds spoke up.

"Andrea did have a contact on the inside of the department. In fact they met through me believe it or not. One day, Andrea had a meeting with me to discuss the case. When I went to get her from my waiting room, she was talking to a nice gentleman. He helped her into my office and then explained that he'd heard about the case and wanted to help," Robert explained.

"He volunteered?" Carisi was a little surprised, considering the fact that there was a possible Mob connection.

"He'd been working at the Sanitation Department for twenty years and he worried that he could lose his job and his pension but he told us that we needed to subpoena the driver's employment record. I told him that as part of due course since we were suing, that the Sanitation Department would have to turn over the driver's records," the attorney said.

"Sounds like standard procedure," Dodds was beginning to wonder what the lawyer was getting at.

"Right? But this is where things got weird. He said that the department had two sets of records and that they would probably only turn over the one that made it look like the driver's first incident. He said that we needed to obtain the driver's driving record with the company, not just his personnel file. So I asked for both in court, in front of the judge, and the Sanitation Department had no choice but to turn it over. It won us the case," Robert told them.

"What was this guy's name?" Carisi asked.

"He said his name was Joe and he gave me a cell phone number to call if we needed him. However, he told me flat out that he would not testify. The guy was scared of something," Stevenson shrugged.

"There are lots of Joes in this city. Can you narrow it down for us? This guy could be next on the list. Andrea's laptop was stolen after she was killed," Dodds pointed out.

"I can't but if you could get Andrea's phone records, you can look for this number," the lawyer quickly turned to his rolodex and looked up a contact. He then scrawled down a number on a scrap paper and gave it to the Sergeant.

"Should I be getting protection for myself and my family?" Robert asked.

"Until we talk to this Joe, we won't know if you're a target or not. Do you have a place to stay?" Carisi wanted to know.

"My wife has a sister upstate near Buffalo," the lawyer told them.

"Why don't you drop in on them for a visit? Here are our cards. Call us if you think of something or if you think you're not safe," Dodds said. Stevenson nodded and the detectives stood, thanking him for his help. Once they were out in their car, Carisi put a call into Fin to tell them they were heading for the station.

"Head to the hospital. Rollins is going in for a C-section and the Lieutenant wants us all there," the elder detective told him. Carisi thanked him and then turned to Dodds who was driving.

"Lights and sirens. Rollins is going in for a C-section and the Lieutenant wants us at the hospital," he told him.

"You got it," the Sergeant nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

Carisi and Dodds arrived just in time. Rollins was being wheeled out of her room and down to the operating room as they approached the group of detectives who were standing out of the way of the doctors. Carisi flashed a smile at the nervous blonde and she sort of smiled back.

"What happened?" Dodds asked after Rollins was wheeled away.

"The baby is putting pressure on her spine and the doctor is afraid that the little one is the reason that Rollins is having so many blood pressure spikes," Olivia explained.

"They're going to be ok, right?" Carisi wanted to know.

"The baby seems to be and should be ok once Rollins has given birth but the doctor won't know more on Amanda's condition until after the birth," the Lieutenant told them.

"How long did they think she was going to be in surgery?" Fin gave Olivia a look. He was concerned that the younger detective was going to be in serious trouble.

"An hour tops since the baby isn't actually ready to be born yet," she said. An hour; it seemed like it would be an eternity. Olivia motioned for them to move into Rollins' empty room so they could discuss the case in private.

"While we're waiting, I need to be brought up to speed on everything. Do we think there is some psycho running around or is this attack specific to our victim?" She wanted to know.

"More and more its looking like a Mob hit," Carisi said.

"A little odd for them, don't you think El?" Olivia turned to her husband.

"Yes but I wouldn't rule it out just yet. I think if our guy was a repeat offender, we would have found something in the databases on a similar MO. Say Andrea was his first though. He hasn't stuck since her death hit the news. A guy that violent would seem to indicate he couldn't wait to lash out again, media attention or not. Yet there was enough of a meticulousness about it that seems like it was a hit," Elliot frowned something wasn't adding up.

"We got a number that we need to run against Andrea's phone records. Seems like a good lead," Dodds spoke up.

"Ok, you and Briscoe head back to the precinct and get working on running that number. If it is the Mob, this person could be in big trouble and we need to find them first. Fin and Elliot, go bug TARU and forensics again. There is no way our killer is that good that he was able to keep the scene that clean," the Lieutenant ordered.

"Unless he had help…" the thought was out there now thanks to Elliot.

"It's not something I want to think about but I suppose that we can't rule it out either," Olivia sighed. The detectives began to file out of the room and Elliot gave a quick kiss to the Lieutenant's temple. She smiled at him and squeezed his arm before he was out the door.

"What am I supposed to do?" Carisi wanted to know.

"You're with me Carisi. We're going to be here when Rollins gets out of surgery," Olivia told him.

"Yes ma'am," he nodded before holding the door open for her. They moved out into the waiting room and picked a place to sit.  _Only forty-five more minutes to go…_  Olivia heaved a sigh after looking at her watch.

"She called this guy a lot," Briscoe said as he looked at the number that Dodds had given him and Andrea's phone records. They had buckled down as soon as they had gotten back to the precinct, hoping that they could find their mystery man named Joe.

"How much is a lot? I mean this guy would be almost twice her age so I highly doubt they were socially calling one another," Dodds gave him a look.

"If she weren't gay I would say she'd have been schtooping him," the younger man told him.

"That a technical term detective?" Dodds raised an eyebrow as Briscoe handed over the phone records list showing how many times they spoke in yellow highlighter.

"Good grief. Where is the list of text messages?" The Sergeant wanted to know. Briscoe grabbed it off of Fin's desk and started combing through it.

"Ok she was definitely schtooping him. She sent him pictures…" he trailed off, the blush returning to his face. Dodds looked over his shoulder and noted that a good number of pictures had gone to both Joe and Suzy.

"You think Suzy is dumb enough to lie to the cops twice?" Dodds wondered.

"Maybe she didn't know that her girlfriend was bisexual," Ken shrugged.

"Maybe that's why the phone was smashed instead of stolen like the laptop," Mike said.

"We gotta find this Joe guy," Briscoe told him.


	11. Chapter 11

Fin and Elliot were pressing the techs at TARU when Dodds and Briscoe walked in. Bernie Zang, the unlucky tech at the other end of Fin and Elliot's prodding, looked at the second group of detectives and heaved a sigh.

"I can only go so fast," he said.

"We're not here for her e-mails. Briscoe had a thought and I thought it was worth double checking," Dodds smiled.

"Well I finally got access to her second e-mail account and she was e-mailing someone on a regular basis with what looks like research of some kind," Bernie explained.

"Excellent you found what she has. Now what were you thinking Dodds?" Elliot asked.

"Turns out our vic was sending those naughty text messages to this Joe guy. So Briscoe wondered if they were encoded like you usually find with kiddie porn," the Sergeant explained.

"Could be or your victim was bisexual," Bernie gave him a look.

"We were thinking that could be the case but we figured we should rule out the picture idea first since we don't have anyone but this Joe we can't find to corroborate," Briscoe spoke up.

"Not a bad idea. I mean anyone looking at the phone wouldn't know they were encrypted," Fin said.

"Which could be another reason the phone was smashed but we got to thinking that maybe Suzy found out that her girlfriend had been stepping out on her and she wasn't too thrilled," Dodds told them.

"Maybe a background check into Suzy wouldn't be such a terrible idea. Issue is, her fingerprints would be all over the scene, especially if she had been over to Andrea's apartment," Elliot frowned; instead of knocking off suspects they were adding them.

"I also don't see the need for her to steal the laptop unless she intended to sell it to the person that Andrea was investigating," Fin pointed out, which was a good point.

"All right, why don't Briscoe and I check Suzy's history out while you two sift through what Andrea left behind in her e-mails? Maybe we can get lucky to piece enough together to find this Joe and the guys that Andrea was investigating," Dodds suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. We should be hearing from Liv soon," Elliot noted the time on his watch.

"Well then let's get to it," the Sergeant nodded. Elliot and Fin took the e-mail address and password and headed back to the bullpen. Dodds and Briscoe handed the photos to Bernie and he got to work with them.

Meanwhile, Carisi was pacing inside the waiting room. It had been almost an hour and he was getting nervous. Olivia didn't blame him but she was worrying about the babysitter and was waiting for Lucy to answer.

"Hi Olivia," the perky girl answered the phone.

"Hi Lucy. How are Noah and Gracie?" She asked.

"Missing their mommy and daddy. How much longer until you guys will be home?" Lucy wondered.

"Rollins is having her baby so I won't be available for a little while. I'll send El a text and see where he's at. Thanks so much Lucy," Olivia said.

"No problem. I'll get the kids dinner and we'll go from there. Tell Amanda congratulations for me," the babysitter told her.

"Oh will do. Thanks again," and with that the phone call ended. Carisi opened his mouth to say something but the doctor walked into the waiting room and he clamped his mouth shut.

"Everything went well. Both mother and baby girl are resting. We're running more tests to make sure that we've solved Amanda's blood pressure issues," Doctor Simmons was all smiles.

"That is great. Can we see them?" Carisi asked.

"Give us another ten minutes and then I'll have one of the nurses bring you down to see them," Simmons smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

Olivia stumbled into the apartment around eleven pm. She was exhausted and in just six short hours, she needed to be getting up for the next day. Making sure the door was locked and her purse was put down on the stand near the door, she kicked her shoes off and hung up her coat. Once that was done, she worked her way into the apartment, careful not to turn on any lights.

Elliot had relieved Lucy around seven and then brought the kids to say hello to their Aunt Amanda. The blonde had been exhausted but she was glad to see them and introduce them to their newest "cousin". Needless to say after an hour, Noah, Gracie, and little Jesse (along with her mother) were ready for bed. Elliot took the kids while Olivia told him she'd shake Fin, Briscoe, and Dodds out of the precinct for the night.

The rest of the team had been glad to hear everything went well. They promised to swing by the hospital the next day. Pulling Fin aside, Olivia told him to make sure that Carisi went home for a shower and a shave before reporting back to the precinct. She then told the elder detective to man Amanda's bedside and find out what the doctors had in mind for the blonde's release. Fin promised to do so and then bade the Lieutenant a good night.

From there, Olivia had gone into her office and started working on all the paperwork she'd been putting off. The DD-fives had to be sent up the chain of command, vacation requests had to be approved, maintenance reports filed for computer repairs, and of course, checking her teams stats on crime solving rate. Luckily the brass hadn't been coming down on them about their numbers since they were short staffed with Amanda out for maternity leave. Still her team had been busting their butts and their solve rate was among the best in the force.

Now as she slipped into bed, mentally and physically exhausted, Elliot rolled over to face her and opened one eye. Olivia in turned rolled her eyes at him.

"I knew there was something missing from the bed the moment I got in it but I couldn't remember what it was," he chuckled.

"I see you waited up for me," she teased as she got comfortable.

"I did. I only came to bed about twenty minutes ago. I was falling asleep on the couch and knew my back wouldn't appreciate it," Elliot explained.

"Well we can't have that. I need you in top physical shape for the weekend," Olivia said.

"Oh and what is going on this weekend?" He asked, extremely curious.

"Maureen promised to keep an eye on Noah and Gracie for us on Saturday night. She said she's taking Kathleen, Dickie, Lizzie, and Eli to Coney Island. I was surprised that they were going but Eli is old enough to have fun and Noah certainly will; he did the last time we went. I know Gracie won't really appreciate it yet but I think that there might be an ulterior motive for Maureen looking after her baby sister," she had closed her eyes and was trying to calm her mind. The bed shifted and suddenly Olivia could feel her husband's rock hard abs up against her. She loved that he'd been going to the gym again.

"I had best clear my schedule then for Saturday," he chuckled and started kissing her neck.

"El, you had better be prepared to finish what you're starting," Olivia said without opening her eyes.

"I never thought finishing was a problem, especially once we start something together," she could almost feel him smirking. The next thing she did feel was his lips working his way down to her chest.

"Mr. Stabler…" she warned.

"Yes, Mrs. Stabler?" Elliot asked before his lips moved further south.

"Don't stop," her tone had shifted and despite being tired, she suddenly found she had a little more energy in reserve.

The next morning, Olivia sat at her desk reviewing the TARU report on the pictures that Andrea had sent her girlfriend, Suzy, and the mysterious Joe. Dodds knocked on her door and she bade him to enter.

"Elliot, Briscoe, and I have been sifting through the e-mails and it seems like we still don't have all the pieces," the Sergeant shook his head.

"What did Suzy's background show?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Nothing. Not even a parking ticket. We can't get access to her banking records without a warrant though and personally, I don't think we have enough to get one," he said.

"Oh I think that warrant won't be a problem," Olivia handed over the report to her subordinate.

"So the pictures weren't encrypted," Dodds said.

"Nope, which means that a jealous girlfriend definitely falls into the realm of suspect and possible killer," she told him.

"Agreed. I'll get that warrant," the Sergeant nodded and headed back out into the bullpen to call Barba. Olivia stood from her desk and moved out into the bullpen as well, noting that Carisi was just walking in, clean shaven.

"Everything all good?" Briscoe asked him.

"Yeah, Fin is with Amanda and little Jesse. What can I help with?" The younger man asked.

"We're missing something but I'm not sure what," Elliot pointed to the board, where he and Briscoe and Dodds had been working out the e-mail information. So far they were compiling a list of names so they could run background checks and

"Ok so this mysterious Joe guy gives Andrea his first name, his phone number, and his e-mail address, and we still can't find him?" Carisi raised an eyebrow.

"Phone is a burner so no GPS. His first name narrows nothing down and his e-mail account isn't tied to any provider. It's a free account you can get off the internet," Briscoe explained.

"Gotcha. What about the burner? Can we find the store that it was sold at?" Carisi wondered.

"We have a sketch based off of the lawyer's description which we can show the store owner. He came in before heading out of town with his family," Elliot said.

"That's a start. It's too bad we can't give the picture to the media," the younger detective said.

"But we can run it through the Municipal ID system," Briscoe brought up.

"Yeah but how do we do it without tipping them off we're looking for this Joe guy? We don't want to put him in danger especially since we still don't fully know what we have," Elliot said.

"We don't have access to the system. We'd have to get a warrant and you're right, it would tip them off. Start with the store owner," Olivia went back into her office and grabbed her coat.

"Hold down the fort boys. I have to make a stop," she said before leaving the bullpen


	13. Chapter 13

"So what you're telling me is that you can't help," Olivia said. She stood inside Captain Ed Tucker's office, hoping that he could perhaps use his powers of persuasion as Internal Affairs to get them a look at the Municipal ID system. Tucker knew some people higher up the food chain at different offices outside of the NYPD.

"I can't but that doesn't mean that Barba couldn't without a warrant," he smiled at her.

"Oh. Now what do you have in mind?" The Lieutenant wanted to know.

"Department of Sanitation has to run routine background checks, make sure that no one has been hiding anything from the city," Tucker said.

"That seems a bit odd," Olivia gave him a look.

"They are constantly hiring subcontractors and checking for connections to existing staff," the Captain smirked.

"Seems like I had better find someone who wants to change careers," the Lieutenant smiled. She thanked Tucker for his help and then headed over to Barba's office.

"Well that was a bust," Elliot huffed as he and Carisi exited the store where the burner phone was sold. The owner didn't recognize the sketch and any security footage that he'd had, had been overwritten already.

"You'd swear this guy was an expert on hiding. I mean seriously," the younger detective shook his head.

"I'll give you that. Maybe he just got lucky. I mean after all they were trying to be careful," Elliot pointed out.

"I guess. Maybe we should hit the board again. Maybe there is something we're missing in the e-mails," Carisi heaved a sigh as they climbed back into the car.

"Maybe Briscoe got a hit on those background checks while we were out. Dodds might have something too," the elder detective suggested. Carisi didn't say anything as he buckled in. Elliot moved the car away from the curb and into traffic. They didn't get far before stopping at a red light.

"So what's going on between you and Rollins?" Elliot wanted to know.

"She's my partner. What should be going on?" Carisi responded.

"Hey you forget who you are talking to. Liv and I were partners for years and I can tell you that the look in your eye when something is going on with Rollins is one that I have been accused of in the past," the elder detective told him before hitting the gas after the light changed.

"Rollins needs someone looking after her. I mean her family is a disaster and the father of her baby is nowhere to be seen. My job as her partner means that I'm there for her no matter what, on the job and off," Carisi said.

"Not sure that she'd like your characterization needing someone to look after her but I get it," Elliot chuckled.

"You know what I mean. She shouldn't have to go through all this alone. It isn't right. She deserves better," the younger man told him.

"That she does. You tell her how you feel?" The older man asked.

"Yeah like she needs that right now," Carisi said.

"Hey take it from me. Don't wait. I regret waiting for so long," Elliot told him. The younger man looked over at the older detective and then out through the window. He didn't have much time to think on it as his cell phone rang.

"Carisi," it was a short call and he soon hung up.

"Who was it?" Elliot asked.

"The Lieutenant needs us at Barba's office," Carisi said.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hello and welcome to the Department of Sanitation. We're glad to have you on as our newest employees," the woman from Human Resources announced. She seemed like a nice lady but Carisi didn't really care. He was there to find their victim's helper. Thanks to Barba and the Lieutenant, he'd been chosen to go undercover. All he had to do was spend a few days in the system while they ran the background checks on the employees.

"Your probationary period is ninety days after which you will become a full-fledged employee. Your paychecks will still be from your current bosses until the probationary period is over," the lady explained. What she didn't say is that they were currently having the DA's office run background checks and if anything popped on a potential employee then the probationary period would be over.

"You will each be riding around in a truck with a veteran of our Department for the first thirty days then the next thirty will be spent in the driver's seat of the truck while your veteran partner keeps a close eye on you. After both sets of training are concluded the Department will decide where you are needed most and select the appropriate routes. Does anyone have any questions?" She asked. A few hands shot up and the woman from HR quickly went about answering them. Carisi scanned the crowd as some of the veteran employees had joined them but none of them looked like the sketch done by Andrea's lawyer.

"Ok I think that answers everything. Now before we head off to your truck assignments, Juan will show you the locker room and where to grab vests and other equipment for your day," the group filed out of the door and headed down the hall. Carisi soaked it all in. Everyone seemed nice and on the up and up so if he didn't already know better, he'd have been fooled. Juan took them around and then they headed out to where the massive garbage trucks were parked. Heaving a sigh, he knew it was going to be a long day.

"So you think Carisi likes picking up garbage?" Dodds asked as he pored over the financial reports from Suzy's accounts at his desk.

"I highly doubt that but until the DA's investigator is done with the background checks, he's kind of stuck," Elliot said. He'd been staring at the board with Briscoe for the last hour or so. They still didn't have all the pieces and it frustrated the elder detective.

"All right I want updates," Olivia ordered as she exited her office. She'd been on the phone for the last twenty minutes.

"Suzy's financial records don't show any major influx of cash. Most of what goes out is for bills, rent, and food. If she sold the laptop, she didn't put the money in her banking account," Dodds said.

"She have a retirement fund or a loan that she paid off all of a sudden?" The Lieutenant wanted to know.

"No retirement fund and her college loans are getting minimum payments. She's up to her eyeballs in debt," Dodds heaved a sigh.

"Well I guess that rules Suzy out," Olivia shook her head.

"That means we're on. Kenny, would you like to fill the Lieutenant in?" Elliot asked.

"Andrea found six other people who had had something similar happen to them. One, a Sean Kyle, moved back to Florida a few years ago, his injuries weren't too bad but he received a one million dollar settlement. Two more, Sarah Leipzig and Todd Brewer, had severe injuries leading up to them missing work and each were awarded two million. The next two, Mary Smith and Garrett Wily, were partially disabled and each got five million each like Andrea did," Briscoe started.

"What happened to the last one?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Oscar Hernandez. He died," Ken frowned. The lieutenant looked at him, shocked.

"Why didn't we hear about this? It should have been all over the news," she said. Ken punched a few buttons on his computer and up on the large television screen popped up an article.

"Oscar Hernandez was killed only a few years ago but the story doesn't exactly read like it was the garbage truck drivers fault. The reporter makes it seem like Oscar shot out into traffic on purpose and let the truck hit him," Briscoe frowned.

"Somebody went through some lengths to cover this up," Olivia shook her head.


	15. Chapter 15

"So you going to follow me around like a little puppy now?" Rollins asked Fin as he rushed to open the car door for her. Rollins exited the NYPD owned sedan with his help and they moved toward the front entrance to her apartment building. The younger detective's insurance gave her only four days in the hospital after giving birth since she had a C-section and the other medical issues had cleared up, much like the doctor had suspected. Jesse was perfectly healthy despite being born early but the doctors wanted her in the hospital for at least another two weeks to make sure nothing developed and that she was hitting all the important markers for someone her age and size. It would mean that Rollins would need to come back and visit the hospital at least three times a day for feeding or at least pumping breast milk into bottles. She asked why she needed to check out of the hospital since she'd be practically spending all day there anyway but the insurance wouldn't waiver.

"For as long as you need me to. Of course the others will fill in when needed too," Fin smiled, knowing that he'd spoken to the Lieutenant about getting Rollins back and forth from the hospital and managing the caseloads.

"Well I appreciate it. Where is Carisi? I mean he wouldn't leave me alone and now I don't see him at all," the blonde commented as they waited for the elevator.

"He's wrapped up in the case, special assignment," he winked at her and Amanda immediately understood. Carisi was undercover.

"Gotcha," she nodded as the doors to the elevator opened. They both got in and then Amanda pushed the button for her floor.

"How goes the case anyway?" Rollins wanted to know.

"Slow. We're still waiting for the DA's office," Fin frowned as the elevator opened and they exited.

"Oh that has to be driving the Lieutenant nuts," she shook her head.

"Yeah, I'm glad that I'm with you and not in the office," he chuckled. The two made it into Amanda's apartment and she headed off to take a shower. Fin sat down on the couch and waited for her. As soon as she was done, they were going to head back to the hospital. Suddenly, he heard keys in the lock and he bolted off the couch, his service weapon out of its holster. The door opened and Frannie bounded through it. Fin heaved a sigh of relief and holstered his weapon.

"Oh sorry! I was hoping that we'd be back before Amanda got home," her neighbor, Angela, said.

"No worries. Glad it was you," he smiled back and let her in, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Well I'm sure Frannie will be glad to see her. I know she won't be staying long but at least they could meet up for a few minutes," Angela smiled.  
"She'll appreciate it," Fin said and he headed back to the living room where Frannie had found her favorite chew toy. The three enjoyed some quiet until Amanda came back out into the living room to find her beloved pooch there. Fin smiled as they played and then looked at his phone when it buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Olivia. He quickly excused himself and read it out of earshot of the ladies in case he needed to call her back.

 _We got him. Elliot and Dodds heading for pickup._  The message read.

 _You need me? Taking Amanda back to the hospital soon._ He responded.

 _Drop her off and then go arrest Carisi. Make it look good. I'll have Kenny head to the hospital._  Olivia told him.

 _On it._  Fin sent back. He then headed back out to the living room and told Amanda they had to get going. She said goodbye to Frannie and Angela and the two quickly headed back out.


	16. Chapter 16

"Why did you bring me down here? I didn't kill anyone!" Joe Ackerman protested as Elliot and Dodds helped him into the interrogation room off of Olivia's office. He was nearly sixty and his hair was salt and pepper. Joe was in pretty good shape for his age and for sitting behind a desk all day. His six foot frame showed that he'd done some hard work in his time.

"You sure about that? Oscar Hernandez would beg to differ and I know Andrea Jacobs would too," Dodds said. The mention of the victims' names certainly got Joe's attention and he looked at them like he was unsure what to do or say.

"See we know that someone inside the Sanitation Department covered up Oscar Hernandez's death and we're pretty sure that whoever did that decided that Andrea was getting too close for comfort. Her death would essentially mean the case would go no further especially since her killer swiped her computer and her e-mail accounts were pretty vague. They weren't vague enough once we started digging through them since we found Oscar but my guess is that finding him wasn't the only thing Andrea found out. Her lawyer said you helped," Elliot narrowed his eyes at their possible suspect.

"Why would I help Andrea and then kill her?" Joe asked.

"She was sending you dirty photos. Maybe your wife found that a little disturbing, especially since you were more than twice her age," Dodds pressed.

"My wife doesn't know about us. Andrea and I never meant to start anything but we spent so much time together, working on getting the dirt uncovered. One thing led to another and we were suddenly sleeping with each other," Ackerman admitted, hanging his head.

"Are you absolutely sure your wife doesn't know? Andrea's killer had a lot of rage. The killer assaulted her with a baseball bat and then put foreign objects in places where they don't belong. They made sure that Andrea's internal organs were an absolute mess, wanted her to suffer. Then just to be sure she was dead, they stabbed her in the neck. That sound like something your wife is capable of?" Dodds gave him a look.

"I bet his wife didn't do it. Ten bucks says that Joe here wanted to get close to Andrea and then when she found out he was the one who helped cover up Oscar's death, he made sure she wouldn't talk," Elliot suggested.

"No! I would never…" their suspect didn't get the chance to finish as Dodds cut in,

"Never shove a Maglite up into Andrea? Now we know you keep one in your garbage truck. I bet nobody noticed when you bought a new one." Joe's face turned green and that's when they knew he didn't hurt Andrea. He covered his mouth and Elliot grabbed the trash can just in the nick of time before Joe hurled his lunch into it. Olivia, who was watching and listening from her office, left the room and headed into the interrogation room. She motioned to Fin to follow her.

"I'm sorry sir. It would seem my detectives have been very inappropriate," Olivia said. Joe was still hovering over the trash can, unsure if he would vomit again.

"Get rid of this trash can and go sit at your desks. I'll speak to you later. Fin please take our guest to the restroom to clean himself up," the Lieutenant pretended to be upset with Elliot and Dodds. The two filed out of the room and took the trash can away. Fin helped Joe up and then to the bathroom. Olivia sprayed some sir freshener and then moved to the nicer interrogation room on the other side of her office. A few minutes later, Fin escorted Joe into the fresher interrogation room. Once he was inside, Dodds and Elliot moved to Olivia's office and closed the door.

"Here to join the party?" Carisi smirked. He was still dressed as if he was at the Sanitation Department. Olivia had told him to hide in there, in case Joe had seen him while he was undercover.

"He should spill his beans to Liv with no problem," Elliot chuckled. They turned up the listening panel on the wall and waited to see what would happen next.

"Now we brought you in because your description matched something that our witness described. Why would he pick you out if you had nothing to do with Andrea or her death?" Olivia asked.

"Because I went to her lawyer's office. I wanted to help. I'm nearing retirement and I knew that once I put in my papers everything that I knew about the existing system would change. I worked my way up the ladder. I started sorting trash then I went to collecting it. Soon I was in the office keeping an eye on payroll and then before you knew it I was the head of HR. I kept separate files on everyone. I wanted to make sure the people higher up the food chain didn't just gloss over what was happening to the Department," he admitted.

"What exactly is happening to the Department? Five victims are maimed and two are now dead. You need to tell us everything," Olivia told him.

"I will," Joe heaved a sigh.


	17. Chapter 17

Olivia sat on the couch looking through the files on the people that Joe Ackerman had given the team in the interrogation room. They had moved the human resources man and his wife to a safe house and Briscoe took the first watch with Dodds ready to back him up. The cover had been that Carisi had made threats against Joe and had said that he would get him no matter what. Uncertain if there was anyone else who wanted to hurt Joe, they had pulled him away from his job. Olivia hoped that meant the men that he could possibly anger would not suspect anything.

Elliot smiled as he entered the living room after putting the kids to bed. For now Noah and Gracie shared a room but both Olivia and Elliot knew that couldn't last. Though that situation was on the back burner especially he could hear his better half's cell phone ringing. He grabbed a bottle of beer out of the fridge and headed for the couch.

"I just got some more info from OCCB. They want into our investigation. Are the kids asleep?" She asked, sipping her wine.

"That they are. I take it our case just went into the toilet then huh?" Elliot wondered.

"A bit. The Captain over there wants me to hand over what we have. The case has gone way beyond Andrea Jacobs' murder," Olivia admitted.

"What exactly have these guys done? I mean I haven't heard of them," her husband said. The three names that Joe had given them were Donnie Fratelli, Sal Capucci, and James Braiden.

"They make a point of keeping under the radar which is why OCCB has been trying to nab them for years without much success. Witnesses tend to disappear," she handed the files to Elliot before continuing; "they have been extorting money from clients they pick up trash from. Basically, charging them almost twice what it should cost for garbage pickup whilst providing other services like alcohol supply, linens, and loans."

"Ah loan sharking and illegal imports," he smirked.

"Mostly. I think the linens were just another opportunity to make money. Point is, OCCB hasn't been able to figure out how they are shipping the illegal imports and getting by customs. They think that there is someone on the inside helping them and if they can nail them with Andrea Jacobs' murder then someone might roll on someone else to save their own skin," she explained.

"So they tell them that they have no choice but to take their services because otherwise something bad will happen to their business. Shop owners comply, figuring that since the garbage guys work for the Sanitation Department, they can't go to the cops. I mean if the garbage guys got to be city workers and the cops are city workers, then they think they'll just be digging themselves a deeper hole. It's practically perfect. How did Joe find out about all of this though and not get himself killed?" Elliot wondered. He had listened to the entire interview and was still amazed that the older man hadn't gotten himself into some serious trouble.

"They knew he knew that they were up to something but Joe had no idea how deep this thing goes. They probably figured that even if he went to the cops all he had was proof of corruption. In the grand scheme of things, they'd throw somebody under the bus and they'd do fifteen years? Mobsters like having guys on the inside anyway," Olivia shrugged.

"Well corruption up until Oscar Hernandez," he pointed out.

"My guess is that they were watching him closely after that. Probably how they found out he was helping Andrea," she nodded.

"All right but that still leaves one thing we can't really cover. I mean how did they manage to make Oscar's death look like it was his fault?" Elliot asked.

"Well that's where Tucker comes in," his wife said.

"Tucker?" Elliot frowned. Despite the fact that the IAB Captain was now an ally, Elliot still didn't like him.

"Of course. Someone high up the food chain had to have their hand in this; maybe not police but someone political. Tucker has connections," Olivia smiled. Her husband rolled his eyes. Just then Olivia's phone rang and she quickly answered it.

"We're on our way!" She told the person on the other end of the line.

"What happened?" Elliot wanted to know as he jumped up from the couch.

"There's been an incident at the safe house. Kenny's been shot," Olivia said.


	18. Chapter 18

"What the hell happened?" Olivia asked as she and Elliot burst onto the scene from their standard issue unmarked sedan. Their neighbor had been more than happy to watch the kids while they were gone, though Olivia hated to impose on her. Now as Dodds approached the Stablers through the swarm of police, EMTs, and innocent bystanders, Olivia worried that it was worse than she had wanted to admit to herself.

"There was a drive by. Briscoe took one in the shoulder and one in the midsection. He yelled for Joe and his wife to get down. They only suffered cuts and bruises thanks to Kenny's quick thinking. We've moved them to the precinct. Briscoe is on his way to hospital," Dodds explained.

"How bad is it?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Kenny is tough but that bullet to the midsection looked bad. If Joe hadn't tried to stop the bleeding… I had Officer Sung ride with him to the hospital," the Sergeant swallowed hard.

"Sweet Jesus," Elliot shook his head.

"How the hell did anyone know where they were?" The Lieutenant demanded.

"I have no idea. Fin is trying to figure that out. Carisi is still with Rollins," Dodds said, pointing out the fact that they were shorthanded yet again.

"Lieutenant Stabler?" The question was formed from someone behind her. Olivia whirled around to see two detectives standing there.

"Captain Fusco from OCCB sends his regards and us to help you with this case. I'm Detective John Cutler and this is my partner, Detective Linda Reese. We're sorry to hear about Detective Briscoe," Cutler said.

"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I'm sure your Captain will want a full briefing in the morning. I'm heading to the hospital to check on Briscoe. Sergeant Dodds has command of the scene," Olivia told them.

"Yes ma'am," they both replied. The Lieutenant turned to her husband and said,

"Stay here and keep me in the loop. I'm going to have patrol drive me to the hospital."

"You've got it. Give Kenny our best," Elliot said. Olivia just nodded and moved over to a patrolman and told him she needed a ride.

Once at the hospital, Olivia called Kenny's parents. She hated to tell them that their son was in surgery and she was fairly certain that his mother, Sarah, had burst out screaming when her husband, Mark, told her. Quickly, the Lieutenant relayed that a patrol car was coming to pick them up so that they would not attempt the drive themselves to the hospital. She had wished that she'd been the one to pick them up but she had wanted to have as much information as she could before talking to them. Her head was in her hands as she heard footsteps approaching but she did not move from her spot.

"I hate that we keep meeting like this," Commissioner Douglas Snyder spoke up and immediately Olivia shot upright and out of her chair.

"Commissioner!" She quickly saluted.

"At ease Lieutenant. How is Detective Briscoe?" The elder man asked.

"Still in surgery Sir. My Sergeant said his wounds looked bad. I haven't had a chance to speak with the doctors," Olivia explained. Snyder frowned.

"Bring me up to speed on the case you and your team is working. Captain Fusco has apprised me of what he thinks is going on and I'd like to hear your take," the Commissioner said. Olivia nodded as they sat down.


	19. Chapter 19

It was a long night and Olivia had nodded on and off in the less than comfortable waiting room at the hospital. Kenny's parents had arrived and informed the doctors that they were his medical contacts. The shoulder wound had not been anything too serious but hours after his first surgery, the younger detective had had to go back under the knife as the doctors worried he was not recovering as he should.

"How bad is it?" Elliot asked, handing her a cup of coffee. He had just arrived from the precinct, looking like he hadn't gotten much sleep either. Olivia gratefully took the cup and grabbed her husband's free hand, giving it a squeeze.

"The doctors had to open him up twice, internal hemorrhaging in his gut. I'm just waiting to see if he wakes up then I have to get to a meeting between Tucker and Captain Fusco and myself," she told him.

"Will he be able to come back?" Elliot wanted to know.

"The doctors think they got it all and now they are hoping that the transfusions helped him stabilize. Issue is that they had to remove his gallbladder and a small part of his liver as the bullet ripped through him. Both wounds will heal and enough of the liver wasn't damaged that they feel it should regrow the missing portion, but he'll be sitting desk duty for six months at least after they release him from the hospital," Olivia heaved a sigh. Elliot shook his head before sipping his coffee. Then he set the cup down on the floor and pulled Olivia to him. The Lieutenant rested her head on his shoulder and they just sat for a little while, enjoying the company.

"Lieutenant Stabler?" A nurse asked about an hour later.

"Yes?" Olivia sat up and looked at her.

"Detective Briscoe is awake. He can't take too much activity but you can check on him quickly. His pain medication will keep him pretty in and out," the nurse smiled.

"Thank you," Olivia smiled back and both she and Elliot headed to his room. Knocking gently, the Lieutenant pushed open the door. Mr. and Mrs. Briscoe were seated near the bed and she smiled at them.

"Lieutenant, Detective," Kenny smiled slightly.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" She tried to keep it light.

"Liv, El," Kenny corrected himself.

"How are you feeling Ken?" Elliot asked.

"Like I got hit by a Mac truck," Briscoe admitted.

"We can imagine. You take care of yourself. Carisi is on his way up from dropping Rollins off and he's going to stay and she'll be joining you two later. El and I have to go catch the guy who did this. Dodds and Fin have something as does Tucker," Olivia brought him up to speed.

"Sounds good. You'll keep me in the loop?" Kenny wanted to know, the pain medication was already starting to take its toll.

"Of course. Now you get some rest. That's an order," Olivia smirked.

"Yes ma'am…" with that Kenny was out again. His parents got up from their seats and moved with Elliot and Olivia to the door.

"You're going to catch this guy right?" Mark Briscoe asked.

"The entire NYPD is out looking for him. He won't get away with this," Olivia nodded.

"Thank you for being so supportive. We don't know what we'd do…" Sarah Briscoe trailed off.

"Your son is a great cop and a pleasure to work with. It is the least we could do," the Lieutenant said. The group then parted so that Kenny could get some rest and his parents could have him to themselves for a little while. Olivia and Elliot headed back to the precinct, hoping that Dodds and Fin had something that would get them closer to their targets.

"Either we got lucky or these guys hire some dummies," Fin said as Olivia and Elliot entered the bullpen.

"What do you mean?" Olivia gave him a look.

"The car involved in the drive by blew through a red light. He's got a ticket coming in the mail but not only that we know who our driver is," Dodds explained and handed them a folder that was bulging.

"Our guy has quite the rap sheet," Elliot couldn't believe what he was reading.

"My guess is that he's just that dumb. Who gets popped for shoplifting a candy bar at age twenty-five? Does he tie back to any of the names that Joe gave us? Are he and his wife safe?" The Lieutenant wanted to know.

"Our driver, Tony Biagi, doesn't tie back to any of our guys directly. We still don't know how he knew what house to hit so perhaps the connection is there," Fin frowned.

"Perhaps it is. Tucker has a lead for me and he and Captain Fusco are on their way over to my office. I need to brush my teeth so keep digging and let me know when they get here," Olivia said as she headed for her office and then off to the locker room. Elliot dashed off to have a few moments alone with his wife.

"Where is he going?" Dodds asked without looking up from the paperwork he was reading.

"Probably to call the babysitter," Fin suggested, knowing that the detective probably had something else on his mind.

Olivia heard the locker room door open but did not think much about it as she finished up brushing her teeth. Suddenly, Elliot was behind her, his arms snaking around her waist. She leaned back into him, letting him take her weight. They were both physically and emotionally exhausted but at that moment they hardly noticed.

"Hang in there Liv," he said, kissing her neck.

"Don't start that. I've got a meeting in like two minutes," Olivia sighed.

"I love you too baby. To be continued later," Elliot promised. She could see him waggling his eyebrows at her in the mirror. She laughed and pushed off of him before turning around and pulling him close.

"You better believe it," she smirked before kissing him soundly on the lips. When they parted she took off for her meeting and Elliot decided he needed a cold shower.


	20. Chapter 20

"Police! Police!" Shouted multiple voices as Tony Biagi's front door fell down. The SWAT team used their battering ram on the locked door. They hadn't bothered to knock politely seeing as one of their own was recovering in the hospital. The small two-story home on Long Island was soon swarming with police.

"Clear!" "Clear!" As members of the team moved through the first floor. A few officers headed upstairs while some others headed to the basement.

"We need a medic in here!" Came a shout from the basement and the EMTs rushed in. Lieutenant Stabler along with Detective Tutuola followed them inside, hoping that their suspect was still alive.

"One GSW to the knee and one to the stomach. He's going to bleed out if we don't get moving!" One of the EMTs barked.

"Fin ride with him. I'll mop up here," Olivia said.

"You got it," the detective nodded. He followed the FDNY paramedics up the basement stairs and out to the waiting ambulance.

"You find any weapons Sergeant?" Olivia asked the SWAT team leader, Mike Sanchez.

"Nothing that would have caused the wounds on our victim. The gun that did the drive by, possibly. My men have bagged it and tagged it for forensics," Sanchez explained.

"Excellent. How did our shooter get away? Biagi should have bled out already," the Lieutenant looked at the pool of blood on the floor.

"My men are combing the yard and the entire house. If our guy is here then we'll find him," Sanchez reassured her.

"I'll get the unis canvassing outside. He can't have gotten far," Olivia nodded and headed up the stairs. By now the home had been cleared and the forensics team was combing through the house, looking for anything that would assist them in the conviction of Tony Biagi.

"You let me know the instant you find anything," the Lieutenant told the team leader Marty Sikes. He'd been promoted and now was in charge of the scene.

"Yes ma'am," Marty nodded. Olivia then headed outside and spoke to the uniformed officers. It wasn't long before her phone rang and she quickly answered it,

"Lieutenant Stabler."

"Liv, we arrested Brandon McDougall, the head of the Sanitation Department. He said he was given no choice but to allow Fratelli, Capucci, and Braiden to take over the day to day operations down at the department. They threatened his family. At first, he figured they just wanted to pocket more of the money from their subcontracting work and what better way to do it than to be the head of the Subcontracting Department? However, they soon began to ask for more and he just let them because of their threats," Tucker shook his head even though she couldn't see it.

"What is the status of the arrests for Fratelli, Capucci, and Braiden?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Elliot and Dodds were on the way to Fratelli's. Captain Fusco and OCCB were heading to Capucci and Braiden's. We'll know soon," the Captain promised.

"Good, I…" she didn't get the chance to finish as she heard someone calling her name. She apologized to Tucker and then hung up.

"Lieutenant!" It was Marty. He was standing on the front steps of the small home and he had an excited look on his face.

"That was quick," Olivia raised an eyebrow, wondering just what they had found. She left her spot on the sidewalk and headed back into the home. Marty led her to the kitchen where a tech was bagging a bloody knife that was already in a bag.

"We found it under the kitchen sink. Someone had been rifling around in here but they missed the trap door in the bottom of the cabinet. We also found a cellphone," Marty said.

"Rush them to the lab. We need to know everything in case Tony can't tell us," Olivia told him.


	21. Chapter 21

"Well so much for interrogating them. They all clammed up but not before asking for a lawyer," Dodds shook his head. He had just entered the Lieutenant's office where she, Captain Fusco, Captain Tucker, and Elliot were waiting.

"We knew they weren't stupid. Though I'm betting if we ask them who hired Tony Biagi, they'd be pointing fingers at one another," Tucker frowned.

"Oh you know it. How is forensics coming with that bloody knife?" Fusco wanted to know.

"Marty says that the preliminary exam points to it belonging to the set that was in Andrea Jacobs' apartment. He's questioning just how stupid Tony is though," Olivia said.

"Why?" Elliot gave her a look.

"Well he said that he's seen keep murder weapons before but never inside a plastic bag inside of a secret hidey hole. He's thinking that Tony got his hands on it from whomever actually killed Andrea Jacobs," she clarified.

"It would make great leverage," Tucker smirked.

"Also explains why Tony wasn't just shot in the head," Fusco said.

"So why wouldn't our killer have chucked the knife into the nearest dumpster after the murder? His clothes would have had to have a ton of blood on them he couldn't have gone around wearing them," Elliot wondered.

"Well we figured this guy was a professional. He knew better than to keep the items. Maybe his clothes ended up in a dumpster in Long Island and the baseball bat went into the ocean. We know where the flashlight and the knife ended up. Tony might have been the getaway driver," Olivia pointed out.

"How is Tony?" Tucker wanted to know.

"Still touch and go according to Fin. Our shooter did some damage but hopefully Tony will come out of it to explain the knife and the drive by," she told them.

"What about our shooter?" Fusco asked.

"A neighbor said he saw a man go over the back fence right before we got there. This same neighbor said he thought he heard gunshots and was about to call when we arrived," Olivia said.

"So SWAT couldn't track him down?" Tucker shook his head.

"He's in the wind but my guess is that with his bosses sitting down here at the precinct, things will be a little hairy for him. The FBI has the Sanitation Offices in lockdown and they're questioning everybody there regarding their bosses," Fusco smirked.

"The FBI?" Elliot gave him a look, confused as to why this couldn't remain an NYPD investigation. He looked at Dodds wondering if his father had had a hand in this.

"Had to call them in. They've been working to eliminate corruption inside governmental offices. They called us way back in the day and turned us onto Fratelli, Capucci, and Braiden. They were up-in-comers moving their way up the Mob food chain. We kept tabs on them and when your victim turned up and we finally had something actionable, I alerted them to the raid on the bosses. We get them and the FBI gets to weed out their connections outside of the City. Fratelli has a cousin out in LA who has been stirring up trouble for a long time with his cronies," Fusco explained.

"Well between the two agencies we should have this covered," Dodds said.

"As long as the Feds don't swoop in and take our prisoners," Tucker frowned.

"We had a deal but that doesn't mean our crooks won't try to get their case moved to Federal Court. They know that Camp Cupcake is much better than sitting in Attica," Fusco told them. Elliot's phone went off and he excused himself from the room. Olivia wondered who it could have been on the phone but she didn't press it in case it was Lucy with something about the kids. Having turned her head to follow his movements, she noticed a bunch of suits coming into the bullpen.

"Either their lawyers are here or the Feds went back on their words," Olivia said, causing the group to look out her office windows.


	22. Chapter 22

"Hey there. How's he doing?" Rollins asked quietly as she entered Kenny's hospital room. Carisi, who had the news on low volume on Briscoe's television, looked up and quickly offered her a seat in an empty chair nearby. She had just finished up feeding the baby and figured she'd come to check on the two detectives.

"He's been doing a lot of sleeping. His folks just went downstairs to get something to eat," he said, keeping his tone low.

"Well that's probably a good thing," Rollins smiled slightly.

"Yeah he's been through the wringer. I've been fielding visiting officers away all day, trying to make sure he gets his rest. His Uncle's last partner even showed up," Carisi told her.

"We'll have to let him know," Amanda was impressed. Carisi just nodded and the two watched in silence for a few minutes until a big alert came through. There was to be an announcement by the NYPD.

"Did the Lieutenant call you?" Rollins asked.

"Nope," he replied just as surprised as she was. He bumped the volume up slightly and they watched as Captain Fusco came into view.

" _Today, in a joint operation with the FBI, the NYPD arrested the people involved in the corruption of the City's Sanitation Department. They have been charged with two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, one of which was on a police detective, multiple counts racketeering, and money laundering,"_  the Captain told the audience.

"Wow. Seems odd those guys would squeal," Rollins commented.

"They wouldn't. It seems the Captain must have had something to nail them all," Carisi was suspicious.

"Maybe Tony squealed," the blonde said.

"That I could see," he nodded. There was a knock on the door and Carisi got up to find Fin at the door. He quickly let the elder detective in.

"Tony is awake and talking. Seems that the offer of witness protection was too good to turn down," Fin told them, keeping his voice down.

"So the Feds are all over this huh?" Carisi asked.

"Oh yeah but we got the arrest. Liv says that Fratelli, Capucci, and Braiden are apparently little fish. They aren't talking but the Feds want to see how pliable they'll come with all the charges and the threat of being in gen pop," Fin explained.

"No Camp Cupcake?" Rollins raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. I guess Captain Fusco and his contact at the FBI have a good thing going," he smiled before looking over to the still sleeping Kenny.

"He's going to be ok," she said.

"Better be. He's a good kid," Fin smiled tightly.

"You do know that I'm not a kid anymore," Kenny spoke up.

"You'll always be a kid to me. Glad to see you are feeling better," the elder detective said.

"I'm tougher than you think," he chuckled.

"Oh I know you're tough. Putting up with Stabler all that time," Fin smirked as the aforementioned detective entered the room.

"We having a party?" He asked.

"No we are not. Everybody up and out except for Mr. Briscoe. You stay right there son," an older nurse came in and began shushing everyone out.

"Where's Liv?" Fin wanted to know once they were out in the hall.

"Wrangling the brass," Elliot smirked. Just then Kenny's parents arrived and Elliot and Fin pulled them aside. Rollins took the opportunity and turned to Carisi,

"We need to talk."


	23. Chapter 23

Later that night, Elliot was feeding Gracie and Olivia was helping Noah cut up his hot dog which he always insisted on eating without a bun; that usually ended up being toasted with butter. It was nice to be eating dinner together. They rarely shared a meal where all four of them were there. One parent would be out and about or both. Though the kids didn't mind Lucy because Olivia knew she was spoiling them rotten. Still the Lieutenant didn't mind it. Gracie and Noah were great kids and she couldn't ask for more.

"You've got that look on your face," Elliot said, breaking her from her reverie.

"You're not even looking at me," she gave him a look. He turned and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Daddy…" Noah giggled as Gracie played with her spoonful of applesauce. Elliot turned around in time to catch Gracie release the spoon and have the applesauce on it hit him in the face. Then both kids were laughing.

"So now I have three kids…" Olivia shook her head and laughed. Elliot wiped his face and messed up Gracie's hair. She giggled some more and Olivia smiled.

"I love you guys," it wasn't something that she said often. Not because she didn't mean it, it was more deep seeded than that but the kids didn't know it; though Noah always seemed to know when his adoptive mother needed something. The kid was more than special and the two of them were thick as thieves, no one would ever guess that Noah wasn't biologically hers.

"Love you too Momma," he said. Olivia leaned over and kissed his nose. Gracie reached out for her mother and Olivia gave her a hug before heading for the fridge.

"Out of ketchup again huh, Noah?" Just like that the moment was gone but it was one that there'd be more of. Olivia brought over the ketchup and squeezed a little more onto Noah's plate for his hot dog. He patted her hand and she gave him a look. He just smiled and then tucked into his hog dog pieces. Elliot smirked and then made sure that Gracie finished up her applesauce.

Once the kids were in bed and the Stablers were sitting on the couch, Olivia was enjoying some wine and Elliot had a beer. They were watching some reruns when Elliot spoke up,

"I can see why you and Noah get along so famously."

"Well we've been a family for quite some time," there was another look.

"Yes well, he's incredibly perceptive for his age. Knows you better than anyone, maybe even me. I seem to remember someone saying she wasn't going to be a good mother," he said, cocking a half smile. He pulled her close and kissed her temple.

"He reminds me that something good can come from something bad. That everyone deserves a chance. That everyone deserves love," she sighed.

"What are you suggesting?" Elliot wanted to know.

"He and I are not that different. Our mothers were addicts. Their addictions led to their deaths. The only difference is that he luckily doesn't remember any of it. That moment when the judge asked me to take care of him, everything changed. I changed," Olivia admitted.

"You're still Badass Benson. Now besides being a cop, a friend, a woman, a support and voice for victims, a mentor, and a role model, you're a mother and wife. You're amazing. Always have been, always will be," he said. She leaned over and kissed him soundly on the lips.

"Why Mrs. Stabler…" he murmured.

"Bedroom Mr. Stabler. Bedroom," she told him.

"Yes ma'am," he set down the beer in his free hand and took her wine glass from her. Setting that down on the coffee table, he lifted his wife up and made his way to their bedroom.

On the other side of the city, Carisi sat in Rollins' living room. She'd told him something that he just couldn't believe. He looked at her and then down at his hands. She stood looking at him, wondering if she should call for a bus.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really, really," she said. His mouth gaped open and then he stood up. Rollins' eyebrows were almost coming off her forehead.

"You…" she didn't get a chance to finish as he pulled her into a hug.

"I want to be here, to do whatever you guys need," he said. She pushed back a little bit and she smiled.

"We'd like that, Dad," Amanda said.

"Dad sounds awesome. I can't believe it. I'm a Dad," he said.

"You're a lot more than that," Rollins admitted. They hugged again.

"What are we going to tell the Lieutenant?" He suddenly wondered.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Below in italics is a flashback.

_Two weeks had passed since the arrests at the Sanitation Department and Olivia was busy filling out more paperwork when there was a knock on her door. She beckoned whomever it was to come in without looking up from her work._

" _Lieutenant?" Dodds asked._

" _Sergeant," Olivia smiled as she looked up. He'd become a great right hand man and she was glad for it._

" _I hate to do this but the paperwork went through," he said. The smile left her face._

" _The transfer to Joint Terrorism Task Force," it was just a simple statement._

" _I can push it off a few weeks. With Kenny and Rollins still out we're way shorthanded," Dodds started._

" _You may be the son of a Chief but once the paperwork is through, the paperwork is through. When's your last day?" Olivia wanted to know._

" _Tomorrow," the Sergeant heaved a sigh. It would be Friday and it would make sense._

" _Well then we had better throw you a party," she smiled._

" _We're in the middle of the Munson case," he reminded her._

" _All right. I'll call your dad, see if he thinks One PP will let you finish the case and then we'll throw you a party. It's only a few more days and I think the guys over at Joint Terrorism Task Force can wait," Olivia smirked._

Now a week later, she sat at Sergeant Michael Dodds funeral. He'd been a courageous man and he saved the lives of Mrs. Munson and her children but the doctors could not save him. She stood as the coffin passed by her. Carisi, Fin, Elliot, and Tucker were some of the pallbearers and they were trying their best to keep it together as they moved in unison with the other officers.

Later, at the bar, where they were all drinking to their fallen friend, Olivia tried to comfort Chief Dodds as best she could. Having the right words to say to a father burying a son, was not something anyone was ever prepared for. She just told him what she thought of his son. He was a great man who loved his job and would do anything to make his father proud. Elliot had hung back, giving her the room to do what she needed to as both Dodds' superior and as his friend. Later, he knew that she would come to pieces but it would be after the kids had gone to bed.

Barba made his way to Carisi who had been investigating threats against the ADA made during the Munson case. At the time, they seemed to be a part of it, but now it looked like the threats had nothing to do with the corrupt prison guard. He immediately noticed that Rollins was hanging near him and she wasn't drinking anything alcoholic. Then he remembered what she had said about feeding her premature infant and alcohol consumption being a big no-no.

"How are you guys?" He asked.

"I can't believe it," Amanda shook her head.

"I can't either," Carisi frowned. Barba nodded. He hadn't spent as much time with Dodds as they had but he seemed like a great guy and his loss was definitely felt.

"We're still on your case though. Don't think we forgot," Carisi said.

"I'm not worried. I'm here among friends," Barba smiled.

"Yeah," the detective smiled, his eyes wandered to Rollins and the ADA made a mental note to ask about that later.


	25. Epilogue

Three weeks after Dodds' funeral, Detective Briscoe left the hospital. The doctors would have released him sooner if he hadn't developed a nasty infection. He would be back at his job in two weeks but just as predicted it would be six months before he got off of a desk.

In the meantime, Fratelli, Capucci, and Braiden had been talking to the authorities. The information they had was enough to get investigations moving that had long stalled. The FBI transferred their custody to the US Marshals who would be taking them to three separate federal prisons with new identities. Their information had been good but not good enough to erase all they had done.

Tony Biagi had gotten off scot free because as it turns out, all he did was shoot at Detective Briscoe and the Ackermans. His evidence regarding the three bosses and the knife that he'd procured that killed Andrea Jacobs was enough for the Marshals to allow him a new identity with no jail time. It turns out a hitman who worked exclusively for Fratelli by the name of Angelo Caputo, had killed Andrea. No one had been onto the killer as he used different methods to kill different people in an effort to stay off the police radar. Fact of the matter was, had Tony not talked to the authorities or managed to get the knife after Caputo disposed of it, they still would not have caught him.

When asked how he managed to get his hands on the knife, Tony explained that Braiden had ordered him to see if he could intimidate Andrea into dropping her investigation. Braiden had wanted to avoid killing her and drawing attention to anything she was into but it would seem his colleague had other ideas. When Tony arrived at her building and saw Caputo leaving wearing a crisp and clean outfit and a few black garbage bags, he decided to follow the hitman. Tony drove all over town watching him dispose of his clothes, a baseball bat, the knife, and other miscellaneous items that could have led to his arrest. The laptop was found to have been in a safe Fratelli had hidden in his home. Tony collected the knife using a pair of disposable gloves and put it in a bag he had laying around his vehicle. Then he stashed it at his house. The only thing he didn't count on was the fact that Caputo noticed he was being followed.

Olivia had the squad try and find Caputo but he was long in the wind. The FBI offered their assistance and posted him on their Most Wanted list, along with sending his info to Interpol. He had yet to be caught and that made everyone uneasy but there wasn't much to be done about it.

"Lieutenant?" Rollins asked as she knocked on the door. Olivia looked up and saw she had little Jesse with her in the stroller and Carisi in tow.

"Well look who it is! How is everything?" She got up from her desk and went over to check out the baby who seemed very happy.

"Great. The hospital and my doctor like the progress Jesse is making and I'll be back to work next week. We just wanted to talk to you about something…" Rollins trailed off.

"I didn't get to be a Lieutenant without being observant. I'm going to tell you right now, I don't care what you and Carisi are doing in your spare time as long as it doesn't spill over into your work lives. I can't afford to lose another detective and we've been lucky that One PP hasn't been breathing down my neck about getting another Sergeant. So if it comes up, I know nothing," Olivia told them. It wasn't the approach she should be taking but she knew that if she and Elliot could keep it together, then these two could.

"Yes ma'am," Carisi nodded.

"We don't want to…" Rollins started.

"I can't get in trouble if I don't know what is going on," Olivia finished for her. Amanda nodded.

"All right now how about you two call it day? It's Friday and luckily things have been quiet all day," the Lieutenant said.

"Yes ma'am," they both nodded and quickly scooted out of her office. Elliot walked in and raised an eyebrow.

"You don't want to know," she said.

"Got it. So how are you?" He asked as he moved toward her.

"Fine. It's been a rough few weeks but I think I'm in a good place," Olivia admitted.

"Excellent. Now you know I love you…" Elliot started.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I got Uncle Munch to babysit," he chuckled.

"We'll be lucky if we ever get the kids back," Olivia laughed.

"Well I figured we could spend tonight doing all sorts of naughty things and then tomorrow take the kids to the zoo," Elliot suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled. He smiled back and pulled her into his arms.

"Love me forever?" Olivia asked.

"You know it lady," he smirked and then gave her a quick peck on the lips before heading back out into the bullpen.

**THE END**


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